Health

21, March 2017

Exposed: 4,000 people die each year in Cameroon from Malaria ⁰

Health officials in Cameroon say malaria remains a concern and are mobilizing for its eradication. According to figures released yesterday in Yaoundé, more than 4,000 people die each year from malaria and more than half of these 4,000 deaths are registered among pregnant women.

Cameroonian authorities have made efforts to limit the devastating effect of malaria. However, these actions of the government have failed continuously due to corruption and the misappropriation of international funding meant for the fight against malaria.

By Sama Ernest

1, March 2017

Douala: Blood trafficking ring dismantled ¹

Cameroon Radio and Television has reported that a network of traffickers of human blood has just been dismantled in Douala, the economic capital.

These traffickers, the CRTV report revealed, were secretly taking blood from a hospital in Kotto, a district in Douala. The blood was then labeled and levied at 6500 FCFA and resold in hospitals in the Littoral region. Members of the network included medical staff.

According to our information, donors underwent no examination before the blood was collected for the patients.

By Rita Akana

20, February 2017

Tanzania: Health Minister threatens to publish list of homosexuals ¹

Tanzania Deputy Minister of Health, Hamisi Kigwangalla has threatened on Twitter to publish the list of homosexuals involved in the prostitution trade.

The minister’s announcement comes after the closure of health centers specialized in the fight against HIV / AIDS, which are accused of promoting homosexuality, which is illegal in the country.

On Thursday, the government announced the closure of dozens of private health centers specializing in the fight against AIDS, accused of promoting homosexuality across Tanzania.

Last year, the government launched raids against gays in bars and clubs in Dar-Es-Salaam, the country’s economic capital of nearly 10 million.

The announcement came after the governor of Dar Es Salaam published a press release on the list of drug traffickers and dealers.

By Chi Prudence Asong

4, February 2017

80% of Cameroonian men die 5 years after they retire ¹

Experts have revealed that 80% of Cameroonian men die 5 years after they retire from active service. The study also pointed out that they die because of poor preparation of their retirement. To put an end to these so-called early deaths, a program of the Retired and Pre-Retirement Support Center (CARE 4) has been launched in Yaounde

In the ceremony that held at Hotel La Falaise under the direct supervision of the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance, Gregoire Owona, the Coordinator of the scheme, Benjamin Kisso observed that, “The ambition of this program is to return the “old” to the center of society, or at least to the center of their families. CARE 4 is a structure created to answer this problem.”

The special representative of Minister Grégoire Owona, noted that it was a commendable initiative that will help improve people’s lives on a day-to-day basis.” The Secretary General in the Ministry of Labor added that “Cameroon hosted from the 27^th to 29^th of July 2016 the very first international forum on retirement in the area of the Inter-African Conference. This means that retirement is at the heart of our concerns. “

CARE 4 is a structure that allows retirees to take charge. It has programs such as CARE 4 health, CARE 4 training, CARE 4 house. “We are now proposing 6 new accompanying programs,” said Benjamin Kisso.

By Fru James

24, December 2016

Yaounde: First Lady visits Center for Applied Research ⁰

First Lady, Chantal Biya was on Wednesday 21st December 2016 at the Centre for Applied Research, Endoscopic Surgery and Human Reproduction CHRACERH. Her arrival at the Centre which she inaugurated on 6th May 2016 was followed by a welcome address by the Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda. Thereafter, she was treated to a guided tour to the different wards of the Centre where close to 20 in-vitro babies and their mothers have been waiting.

The First Lady Chantal Biya on each case extended a warm hand of fellowship before distributing the gifts she was carrying along. The mothers and their babies were visibly elated for this mark of generosity and special interest the First Lady has been expressing towards the Centre. The Centre uses advance technology in the endoscopic surgery for women that have problems of pro-creation.

Since its creation on 13th October 2011 CHRACERH has produced close to 25 test-tube babies under the direct supervision of its Director General Professor Jean Marie Kasia. On each stop the First Lady was accompanied by the Director General of the Centre Professor Jean Marie kasia, Public Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda and a host of Cabinet Ministers, dignitaries, special guests and CERAC members.

Culled from CRTV

5, December 2016

Cameroon government gives priority to prevention in the fight against HIV/Aids ⁰

The Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda has stated Government’s determination to have two hundred thousand HIV patients get access to free treatment by the end of 2016.Public Health boss made this declaration this Thursday 1st December 2016 in Yaoundé during the commemoration of the 29th edition of the World AIDS Day organized under the theme “Hands up for HIV prevention”. Minister Andre Mama Fouda used the occasion to encourage AIDS patients to strictly follow-up treatment so as to avoid the propagation of the virus.

Commemorative activities in Yaoundé like in other towns of the country were marked by sensitization campaigns, free screening, health talks and distribution of condoms among other activities. Noteworthy is the fact that the disease with still no cure has accounted for the death of many Cameroonians. A number of campaigns spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders are being carried out to create awareness of the disease. Also, government now provides free anti-retroviral drugs for patients living with the virus.

Cameroon’s First Lady, Chantal Biya has also been very instrumental in the fight against the disease. According to statistics, about 90% of new infection is as a result of unprotected sexual relations. About 6 % is attributed to mother-to-child transmission, and approximately 4 % as a result of blood transfusion. In Cameroon, the prevalence rate has dropped from is an estimated 4.3% to 3.9.

CRTV

16, November 2016

CPDM miracle: CNPS signs medical evacuation convention for its staffs, patients to be treated in Tunisia ⁰

The National Social Insurance Fund known in French as the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS) has signed a convention for medical evacuations of its staffs and other patients to Tunisia, while the institution owns and runs many hospitals in the country.

On October 26, 2016, CNPS signed an agreement with Tunisia’s Mediacal Services (TMS) for medical evacuations. The National Social Insurance Fund was represented during the signing ceremony by Alain Noël Mekulu Mvondo, the general manager of the fund and Slim Maraoui who stood for the TMS.

According to the agreement, patients proposed by CNPS will now be evacuated to Tunisia and no longer in France. The management of CNPS justified the decision to sign the agreement saying it was pushed by the desire to reduce the costs of evacuations to France and Tunisia’s modern technical platforms and the very good quality of its medical practitioners.

Cameroon Concord News health correspondent, who contributed to this report, opined that the convention has betrayed the lack of confidence by CNPS with regard to its own hospitals. The main CNPS hospital in Yaoundé created in 1978 is still struggling to meet international standards. CNPS had been evacuating patients to France and Great Britain. Mekulu Mvondo now thinks Tunisia and Europe have identical technical plates.

By Sonne Peter

11, November 2016

The declining state of public hygiene under the CPDM regime ⁰

The Minister for Youths and Civic Education was in Kribi recently to launch a national initiative which seeks to generalize good civic practices in the country. Many see it as a last-ditch effort to improve on the declining state of public hygiene, especially as the Africa Nations Cup competition draws nearer and nearer. Many have criticized the state of public hygiene in the country and the authorities were beginning to fear that we were going to be caught pants down when the numerous visitors coming into the country for the AFCON if they met the situation uncorrected. Some have rightly called it a national disease. On the major streets of Yaoundé, it is not unusual to find passengers throwing out banana peelings or used Kleenex paper from car windows and quite often this is even done by those in vehicles no one would ever have suspected simply by the quality of their occupants!

Once upon a time, the cities of Yaoundé and Douala had some of the best public telephone booths; but all were gone within months of their installation because hoodlums broke them up and shattered them in the hope of extracting the coins put in to obtain communication lines. Across the country, entire communities have been cut off from electricity by thieves in search of such lines to sell out for use in the manufacture of other lucrative uses. Many Mayors and other authorities have been making appeals for better manners as the countdown for the beginning of AFCON comes closer. The appeals were prompted by the need to address some disturbing actions around newly constructed structures in the country where citizens have not given them the care they require. Within these structures and where toilets and other facilities exist, people would rather urinate just about anywhere.

One must however blame the public authorities for the rise in these condemnable acts because all too often essential services such as toilets and other hospitality services are not provided for when public buildings are conceived. It is possible to go for several kilometers in our major cities with seeing a refuse disposal basket or a public toilet. In such a situation, where does one expect even the most willing person faced with the need to urinate do? Or where does one throw a used piece of Kleenex? It takes both a campaign such as the one being organized by the public authorities but, above all, by the provision of facilities to expect a radical turnaround in the poor habits experienced today. It will take only that to expect to instill a culture of public hygiene and the need to respect common-use facilities in the minds of Cameroonian citizens.

Culled from Cameroon Tribune

1, November 2016

Cancer could kill 60 percent more women by 2030 ⁰

Nearly 60 percent more women may fall victim to various types of cancer by 2030, a report says, indicating a rocketing increase in a matter of less than two decades. The Global Burden of Cancer in Women presented on Tuesday at the World Cancer Congress in Paris showed that a shocking figure of 5.5 million women would be killed from cancer each year by 2030, much higher than 3.5 million deaths from 6.7 million cancer cases recorded in 2012.

“These numbers are expected to increase to 9.9 million cases and 5.5 million deaths among females annually by 2030 as a result of the growth and ageing of the population,” said the report, warning that the highest toll will be among women in poor and middle-income countries who could suffer from largely preventable cancers.

The report, compiled by the American Cancer Society and pharmaceutical company Merck, highlighted the large geographic inequality in availability of resources and preventive measures and treatment to combat cancer, saying a much smaller proportion of cancer cases are diagnosed and treated in poorer countries.

It said most cancer cases are still reported in high-income countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia as they have better access to screening and detection. However, a much bigger group dies in poorer countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea.

It also said better basic healthcare being provided in developing countries, which has led to a longer lifespan for people, has exposed them to a growing burden of cancer. It said women in these societies are involved in more physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, obesity, and reproductive factors such as postponing motherhood, meaning that rapid economic transition is increasing the risk of cancer for these countries.

The report said cervical cancer is still the most prevalent in poor countries while the developed ones have more rates of colorectal cancer. It said breast and lung cancers are common in both rich and poor nations. However, it added that all the four types are mostly preventable or can be detected early, when treatment is more successful. Cancer is the second highest cause of death after cardiovascular disease. Estimates show that it is already killing one in seven women around the world.

Presstv

1, November 2016

Yaounde: 255 Health practitioners graduate from the Faculty of Medicines ⁰

Some 255 health professionals have graduated from the Faculty of Medicines and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1. The Minister of Higher Education Jacque Fame Ndongo chaired the graduation ceremony during which the students received their end of course certificates on the 31^st of October 2016.

Addressing the laureates, the Minister of Higher Education outlined what it takes to be a good health practitioner who he described as life savers. At the end of the oath taking exercise, the graduates were officially handed over to the Minister of Public Health- ending seven years of training that was punctuated with field work.

The 255 graduates are specialized in general medicine, pharmacy and dentistry. During the ceremony, some outstanding students in each of the fields received awards.

CRTV